Times: Sir Elton reveals strained relations with own father

New dad Sir Elton John has spoken about his relationship with his own father, revealing that he never attended one of his concerts and was “disappointed” in the world-famous singer.

Speaking following the birth of his first child, the 63-year-old musician described Stanley Dwight as a “tough, hard, unemotional man”.

“He was dismissive, disappointed, and finally absent,” Sir Elton said. “I just wanted him to acknowledge what I’d done. But he never did.”

Mr Dwight, a former member of the RAF, died in 1992. He divorced Sir Elton’s mother Sheila when the singer was 15.

“It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to relate to kids,” added the singer.

“He left us, remarried and had another family, and by all accounts was a great dad to them. It wasn’t children, it was me.”

In an interview with The Sunday Times magazine, the rock legend and civil partner David Furnish described the birth of Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John as “the happiest moment of our lives”.

The infant, who weighed 7lb 15oz, was born prematurely via a surrogate in California on Christmas Day.

Despite Sir Elton’s multi-million pound fortune, the couple, whose civil partnership was formalised in 2005, said they wanted to give their son a normal upbringing and teach him discipline and good manners.

“We don’t want him to have a sense of entitlement,” said Mr Furnish.

The pair dismissed reports that a designer had been called into to decorate their son’s nursery as “nonsense” and said they have not spent thousands on clothes and toys.

“All you need is a couple of Babygros and a lot of muslin. Friends are being really great giving us hand-me-down stuff,” said Mr Furnish.

The identity of the baby’s surrogate mother is being protected by the new parents, who both donated sperm. It has also not been announced who the biological father is.

Before the birth, Sir Elton had spoken of his desire to become a father, announcing last autumn that he wanted to adopt a 14-month-old boy from an orphanage in Ukraine.

His plans were reportedly thwarted by Ukrainian laws.

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